


Last Days of a Meat Puppet

by Keyseeker



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Happy Ending, Gen, This is a place of pain, Tragedy, papadopoulos fam au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2019-11-28 04:32:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18203570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keyseeker/pseuds/Keyseeker
Summary: Lester Papadopoulous wasn't some empty shell that Zeus shoved Apollo's soul into... at least he didn't used to be.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Español available: [Last Days of a Meat Puppet](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21179198) by [SinNombreYEso](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SinNombreYEso/pseuds/SinNombreYEso)



> So this is part of the Papadopoulos Fam Au that's been going around on the ToA Discord. I've tried to post this to AO3 a couple of times, hopefully it goes through this time...

Day 1

I blinked open my eyes. Blearily I looked around. Gleaming walls of white greeted my eyes, with a rainbow shimmer overlaying them. I squinted and took a closer look. The rainbow shimmer formed some sort of spherical barrier. I looked behind me to check whether it went all the way around, and choked. Standing behind me was a twenty foot tall man wearing a grey suit, a long black beard, and a severe expression on his face. The air around him crackled with energy.

I scrambled back, wanting to put some distance between myself and this strange, scary giant. I’d seen strange things before, like winged horses and people with goat horns. Once I even saw a GIANT dog bounding around the city before melting into shadows.

Mum says that I’m clear-sighted, like her. We see the world as it REALLY is, in its full strangeness. We try to stay out of whatever trouble is going in the hidden world. But now it seemed that trouble had found ME.

“Who… who are you?” I cried, hoping I sounded braver than I felt. “Where am I? What do you want with me?”

I wracked my brains, hoping that remembering what happened before this would give me some insight. But it didn’t help. I’d gone to school, (DRIVEN myself in fact, I got my license just last month!) came home, played some Mario Kart with my younger brother Cameron, and pretended to be a vicious dragon for my much younger siblings, Katie, Tyler, and Tyrone to slay. (Tyler and Tyrone are identical twins. Most people outside of our family mix them up constantly, but we can always tell who’s who, no matter how often they try to fool us.) I helped Mum put them all to bed, then went to bed myself. Nothing that told me why I had awoken in this strange place with the giant scary man glowering at me.

“ **I AM ZEUS, KING OF OLYMPUS** ,” he bellowed. I felt the vibrations from his voice resonate throughout my body. “ **YOU ARE HERE TO SERVE AS A VESSEL FOR MY SON APOLLO AS PART OF HIS PUNISHMENT**.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. “Uh… so what will happen to me?”

He looked down his nose at me. I felt like he was looking at me as a particularly noisy livestock animal, an annoyance he was almost happy to slaughter.

**“YOUR SOUL WILL BE SYSTEMATICALLY DESTROYED, BUT YOUR BODY LEFT INTACT. I WISH FOR APOLLO TO BE THE ONLY ONE IN THIS BODY.”**

I broke out in a cold sweat. He was going to _what_?

“You don’t want me,” I said quickly, fighting down my nausea. I didn’t think that throwing up would be helpful in getting the King of Olympus to listen to me. “I’m not athletic, I have acnes and pimples, and I trip over my own feet! I’d make a TERRIBLE vessel.”

“ **THAT MAKES YOU THE PERFECT VESSEL,” Zeus replied. “APOLLO IS PROUD AND VAIN. BEING IN SUCH A PLAIN, ORDINARY BODY WILL BE PUNISHMENT ALL ON ITS OWN**.” 

Ok, NOW I was insulted. Yes I know I just insulted myself a second ago, but I didn’t need Zeus to do it too!

“I… I have a family,” I said weakly. “They’ll miss me if I’m gone.”

“ **LET THEM MISS YOU,** ” he replied. **“WHY SHOULD I CARE?”**

I had no answer to that. Even if they could somehow figure out where I was, there was no way they could retrieve me. And even if they could, what would stop Zeus from taking me right back? 

A cold trickle ran down my back. Zeus CLEARLY didn’t care about human life. If they did find me… if I tried to fight him… he might HURT them.

 _NO_.

I wanted to live. I wanted to go back home and cook with Mum, watch bad horror movies with Dad, attend Katie’s first ballet recital (she was SO excited about it, jabbering away to anyone who would listen about what a pretty Sugar Plum Princess she made), cause Cameron to glare at me in annoyance as I chose Rainbow Road  _again_ , and stop the twins from giving the cat a bath in the toilet (though our cat made her opinions on that well known already). I wanted to be with my family.

But I wanted them to live even more.

With a jolt I felt myself being dragged into the air by… well, the air.

“What’s going on now?!” I shouted, flailing uselessly.

He didn’t reply. I guess he was done entertaining questions from lower life forms for today.

He dragged me through several different rooms, all lavishly decorated. Some were even staffed by… beings. They weren’t human, that was for sure. some were see-through and wispy, others were close to Zeus’s height and dressed in fine clothes, sipping some drink of out of golden goblets. A few glanced over at me as I screamed for help.

None of them made any move to help me.

At last we stopped in a room covered with a gleaming, golden net. On the other side of it stood a teenager, about my age, with golden hair and sky blue eyes. He looked as freaked out as I was.

“F-father,” he said pleadingly. No person should look up at their parent with so much fear. “Please. I’ve learned my lesson. Forgive me.”

Zeus merely looked down at him coldly. “ **NOT YET YOU HAVEN’T.** ”

That’s when Apollo noticed me, and his face morphed to one of confusion. “Who..?”

Zeus grinned. I shivered. “ **HE IS PART OF YOUR PUNISHMENT. YOU WILL BE CAST DOWN AS A MORTAL AGAIN, BUT THIS TIME, YOU WON’T EVEN HAVE A BODY OF YOUR OWN. YOU’LL BE IN HIS BODY INSTEAD**.”

Apollo gave me a quick look up and down, lingering on my face and my stomach. I shifted uncomfortably, as best I could while being held up in the air anyways. I felt again like livestock, this time being inspected before the slaughter and found wanting.

“But… but he has acne! And FLAB! I bet he doesn’t even have a six-pack!”

Suddenly I lost my sympathy for him. I was going to have my SOUL DESTROYED as part of a conflict I had no part of, and he was complaining because I wasn’t a MODEL?! 

I glared at him. “He’s gonna destroy MY SOUL, as part of YOUR punishment. Why are YOU complaining?”

He waved it off. “Hey, it’s not like I can do anything about that. I’m not happy about this either.”

“ _I might not ever see my family again,_ ” I hissed through clenched teeth. “I’ll never get to give my sister piggy-back rides again, or teach my youngest brothers how to ride a scooter, or give my younger brother dating advice, or… or…” 

I started to sob. It was beginning to sink in. No one was coming to rescue me. No one COULD rescue me. I was going to die here, and this conceited prick was going to wear my corpse, complaining about it the whole time.

Apparently Zeus decided that that was enough. “ **I’LL BE BACK** ,” he promised. “ **I WILL SHOW YOU HOW FAR I’VE PROGRESSED ON PREPARATIONS FOR YOUR PUNISHMENT.** ”

Then he walked away, dragging me along, still floating, behind him.

After a few more minutes, we were back in the room I had woken up in. He conjured a see-through box and laid me down in it. I tried to squirm some more, but he merely snapped his fingers and my body went still and straight, as if someone had cast  _Petrificus Totalus_  on me. (I had just gotten through reading the Sorceror’s Stone to Katie, Tyrone, and Tyler. I wondered who would take over now?)

“ **SLEEP,** ” Zeus declared. “ **NEXT TIME YOU AWAKEN, THE PROCESS WILL HAVE STARTED**.”

I fought his order as best I could, but it was useless. I could feel my eyes closing against my will. I tried to hold on to myself as best I could, hoping I’d still, somehow, against all odds, still be ME when I next awoke.

_My name is Lester Papadopoulos. I have a mother, father, and four annoying, but precious siblings. Cameron. Katie. Tyrone. Tyler. They’re my family. Don’t forget._

_Don’t forget._

_Don’t… forget…_


	2. Chapter 2

I blinked awake. A huge man stood in front of me. I felt like I should know him. I didn’t really care much though.

I felt myself being lifted into the air. I floated there limply. I had no reason to move.

The man dragged me along behind him through corridor after corridor, until we stopped in a room with golden strings criss-crossing the entire area, from floor to ceiling. A golden net.

On the other side of the net lay a man… no… a boy. He couldn’t have been older than 15. His blond hair looked dull and unkempt. His skin was pallid, as if he hadn’t been in the sun for months. He breathed hard, seeming to struggle a bit.

As we entered the room, he attempted to scramble to his feet. He fell several times in the attempt, seemingly not used to being upright. When he did finally manage to stand, his knees wobbled, looking like they would collapse at any second. His face screwed up in concentration. It looked like it was taking every bit of his energy and determination just to keep from falling over.

“Father…” he rasped weakly, desperation in his eyes. 

Father.

An image of a tall man with curly hair and freckles filled my mind. But… it wasn’t just him. He was reading some sort of book to two identical-looking little boys sitting beside him, a slightly older girl in a fairy costume doodling on a notepad not far away. A teenage boy with blond hair and a mischievous expression stood in a corner, doing something on his phone. I saw him sneaking glances at the man and the kids though.

A woman with brown frizzy hair tied back in a ponytail walked in, holding a plate of brownies.

Immediately the man stopped reading, scrambling to his feet. The two identical boys and the girl jumped up too, but he was the quickest. The teen in the corner sauntered over, clearly TRYING to look cool, but also very clearly wanting a brownie.

My viewpoint moved forwards, towards the brownies, as the woman handed them out to everyone. Then she turned towards my viewpoint and handed me a brownie. I saw a hand - MY hand - reach out and take it.

I was part of this.

This is…

These people are…

My family.

The twins, Tyler and Tyrone.

My little sister, Katie.

My teenage brother, Cameron.

Mum, Dad.

And… me.

Lester.

Lester Papadopolous.

I remembered who I was and where I was. I tried to struggle.  I WANTED to struggle. But I had so little energy. I just felt a dull ache, like something had been carved out of me, something important. Something that WOULD be causing excruciating pain just by its absence, but the part that causes pain was carved out too. So instead I just felt

Empty.

“Please, father!” I heard Apollo beg.  I snapped back to reality. Maybe I couldn’t escape. Maybe I couldn’t save myself. But perhaps I could do  _something_.

If only I knew what.

Now that I was a little more myself  _(pieces missing, twisted, fading, but the most important parts still there_ ) I took a closer look at Apollo. The terror on his face was even worse than last time. Last time, it seemed like Apollo thought Zeus might do something terrible to him. This time, it looked like he knew he would.

“Father, I… please, I can’t… I can’t even remember Mother’s face anymore. Or… or Artemis’s voice. Please, father… I know I was stupid and vain and terrible and neglectful, but just… leave me my memories of them at least. Please.”

I felt a dull ache at those words. I couldn’t remember much about my family, but I remembered enough, could still FEEL enough, that the knowledge that I had forgotten them, was STILL forgetting them, hurt worse than having my soul ripped apart.

I still remembered what a prick he’d been last time, but I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him now. We were in the same boat. Whatever he’d done, he didn’t deserve this. Neither of us did.

I looked up at Zeus, hoping that I’d see a twinge of mercy or regret. I was not surprised when his face remained impassive.  **“I DO NOT CHOOSE WHICH MEMORIES YOU LOSE. MEMORIES ARE ELIMINATED OR SUPPRESSED SO THAT THE REMAINING MEMORIES CAN FIT IN THE ESSENCE YOU HAVE LEFT. IT’S UP TO THE FATES WHICH MEMORIES YOU LOSE.”**

“But- but you could stop taking my essence! Then I wouldn’t lose anymore memories!” Apollo blabbered desperately.

“ **FOR THE PUNISHMENT I HAVE IN MIND, YOU NEED TO BE ALMOST COMPLETELY POWERLESS, WITH THE SMALLEST AMOUNT OF ESSENCE YOU COULD POSSESS AND STILL EXIST. NO. REMEMBER THIS, BOY. THIS IS YOUR OWN FAULT. IT IS YOUR OWN DOING. YOU ARE THE ONE TO BLAME FOR THE LOSS OF YOUR MEMORIES, FOR PUTTING YOURSELF IN A SITUATION WHERE I HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO DO THIS. YOU ARE TO BLAME.** ”

This was too much. I couldn’t escape, I couldn’t fight, but I could still talk.

“No, it’s not.”

My voice sounded strange and foreign to my ears, and crackly with disuse. But it carried throughout the room.

Zeus’s and Apollo’s head snapped towards me, Zeus’s in anger, and Apollo’s in shock. I got the distinct feeling Apollo hadn’t realized I was there.

The air crackled with energy as Zeus glared at me. I didn’t care. He’d already stolen the part of me that felt the need for self-preservation. So long as he didn’t get angry enough to harm others in retaliation, I didn’t care what he did to me. In fact…

I giggled slightly. Getting my captor angry, getting back a him in some small way, sounded fun! I’m sure Cameron would approve. He always loved clever heroes who quipped at their enemies, even as they were about to die. Ones who refused to give evil the satisfaction of seeing their fear.

“You did this to me. You did this to him. Are you so much of a coward you refuse to take responsibility for your own actions?”

Zeus’s face twisted into a mask of fury. Lightning crackled around him. One bolt struck so close to me, I could feel the hairs on my neck stand up. 

Apollo gaped at me, disbelieving. I had to wonder: had he ever seen anyone stand u to his father before? Maybe that had to do with why he was such a jerk before. I hoped that those two he mentioned, his mom and Artemis, were better than THIS douchebag. Then again, it’d be hard to be worse.

Zeus didn’t hurt me, though I could tell he really, REALLY wanted to.

“ **YOU’RE ALMOST GONE. LETS SEE IF YOU CAN KEEP THIS UP WHEN THERE’S BARELY ENOUGH SOUL IN YOUR BODY TO KEEP IT ALIVE.** ”

He tore back to the room I woke up in. Looking at the clear box, I pondered why it looked familiar. Not I’ve-seen-it-before-being-kidnapped familiar, but I-know-what-this-is-for familiar.

As he laid me down roughly in the container and started inducing sleep, I continued wracking my brain.

I got it in my last moments of consciousness.

_Oh._

_It’s a coffin…_

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Darkness.

Movement.

Heaviness.

Color blurs past

 getting closer

 before passing by.

Images resolving.

Walls. Floors. Doors.

All gleaming.

A stop.

Movement forward

but more slowly.

Lines of gold.

On the other side

a blob of color.

A figure. 

A person.

A boy.

Young.

Not moving.

Laying on the ground.

_~~Wrong. This is wrong.~~ _

Sound reverberates.

The sound _ ~~\- not just any sound~~_  - resolves.

Gains meaning.

**IT’S TIME**

**YOU WILL BE SENT DOWN IN THIS MORTAL BODY**

**YOU MUST DEFEAT PYTHON**

**RECLAIM THE ORACLES YOU NEGLECTED**

**WITH NO HELP FROM THE GODS.**

**ONLY IF YOU SUCCEED**

**ONLY THEN WILL I CONSIDER RESTORING YOUR DIVINITY**

**YOU THINK THAT YOU DESERVE TO BE WORSHIPPED ABOVE ME?**

**REMEMBER THIS.**

**I AM YOUR FATHER.**

**I AM YOUR KING.**

**YOU EXIST BECAUSE OF ME.**

**YOUR CONTINUED EXISTENCE IS DUE TO MY MERCY.**

**CROSS ME AGAIN**

**AND THERE WILL NOT BE ANOTHER CHANCE.**

Some slight twitching. 

Barely a response.

Barely a reaction.

But the boy’s alive.

 **ANSWER ME**.

A slight groan.

More twitching.

But no words.

A low  **GROWL**.

The boy turns into sparks of light.

So, so few sparks.

Dim.

Fading. 

Nearly extinguished.

They surge forwards.

Then-

_contact._

Soul shard touches whole soul, a godly soul.

Pushed, forced into this mortal form.

The essence is SHOVED into the space where a whole soul used to reside.

Filling the spaces left by Zeus’s malice

by his violence against the innermost parts of this being.

Yearning for completeness, for the missing pieces of himself

the shard makes do.

This other soul is similar enough.

It connects with the newcomer, using the soul to fill in the aching gaps-

And Lester is  _aware_.

But not just him.

Apollo’s there too.

He’s barely conscious. Apollo’s had his  _ ~~my?~~_  essence slowly, painfully, painfully slowly - drawn out of him, his consciousness shrinking, contracting, until he and his memories could fit in the remaining essence, then repeated for months. No ambrosia. No nectar. Only one visitor.

Zeus. His  _ ~~my~~_  father. Only a few times. Only to draw out more essence, and to taunt. 

No one else came. No one else could. 

All that existed was Apollo, the net, and his slowly fading memories.

Maybe Zeus was right.

Maybe he did deserve this.

Faces flickered past.

Daphne. Hyacinthus.

Both dead because of him.

Scenes he could not fully remember. 

People he should know, but who he could not recall.

A man with his knife at another man’s throat, pleading for help.

Hands around a drowning man’s throat, keeping him underwater as he struggled.

Only a handful of the guilt he felt, only the ones who bubbled up to consciousness.

So, so much more below the surface, hidden beneath layer upon layer of distraction

of willful ignorance.

A facade so thorough, it fooled even the owner.

But not anymore.

No one remained to hold back the tide.

He wasn’t needed.

No one had come for him.

Would anyone even care if he were gone?

Images flickered briefly.

A woman with a kindly expression, cradling her to his chest.

His beloved mother.

She would care.

A young girl with cold silver eyes, looking annoyed and exhausted, but also relieved.

She is the very first person he ever sees.

His (sometimes annoying, but precious) twin Artemis.

They would care.

The images sputtered, then died.

Desperately he tried to cling to them, to the two people in his life who somehow, for some reason, STILL wanted to be with him.

They slipped away.

He’d justified his need for his continued existence to himself by telling himself over and over that he was gorgeous, that he could not deprive the world of his beauty.

That everyone loved him, that they’d be worse off if he was gone.

That he was a GOOD PERSON, who deserved to be alive even when so many others had ceased to exist.

Zeus’s punishment had laid it all bare to him.

The world did not need him.

The world did not love him.

He was not a good person.

He would have given up long before, if not for Artemis and Leto.

But even his desire to exist for them, so they would not have to mourn his passing, was dying out.

It kept him alive for all those months in that prison.

But that was all it could do.

And even that was fading with his memories of them.

##  _NO_

I pulled back from Apollo’s consciousness, just a little. I couldn’t separate too much, or I’d lose my sense of self again. But enough to escape the spiral Apollo was trapped in.

I couldn’t remember much. Couldn’t quite feel what I should. From connecting with Apollo, I had realized that *I* - what *I* was left - was just a fragment of a person. Just a remnant of once was.

But I knew that Apollo didn’t deserve to fade. 

He’d screwed up, no denying that. He’d done some terrible things, and ALLOWED even more horrible things to happen, things that even now he didn’t realize the horror of.

But beneath all of that, beneath his indifference, his arrogance, his selfishness, his guilt, his sadness… we weren’t so different.

I had easily connected with his soul. Even with my barely functioning memory, I could tell that while Apollo’s soul wasn’t my own, beneath it all, we were similar where it mattered most. 

If we had switched places, would I be like him, and him like me?

I didn’t know.

But it gave me hope.

I saw no way to save myself, but perhaps I could save Apollo.

Perhaps he could right the terrible wrongs I had seen in the background of his memories.

Children fighting to the death against monsters.

People cursed and killed because they had the misfortune to be in the crossfire of a spat between gods.

Apollo was not innocent in this.

But he was not a monster either.

I could feel it in the depths of my soul.

He could help the children.

He could help the innocents.

He could be a better person than he thought he was.

And, maybe… maybe that was good enough.

For now, though, I had to focus on keeping Apollo alive.

I’d seen the monsters he’d be facing, the dangers that awaited him in the mortal world.

Without his powers, with barely any will to live left, he’d be easy pickings.

Zeus had nearly broken his spirit. As he was now, Apollo would not survive. 

_Lester…?_

Ah. Apollo had realized I was still here.

I felt him instinctively reach out to my soul, to the dregs of memories I had left.

I opened up the connection, let him see what I saw, let him feel what I feel. Let him perceive his memories through my eyes.

And he found my memories too. Ones I didn’t even realize were still there.

Mum, bringing me soup when I was sick.

Dad, helping teach me how to drive.

Tyrone and Tyler hiding very poorly during a game of hide-and-seek (I didn’t let them know that I could see them behind the curtain. I just walked on by, letting them believe they had chosen the best hiding place in the world.

Getting down on my hands and knees and giving Katie Pegasus-back rides (they were 20% cooler than ponies she said.)

Helping Cameron with his homework, vowing to be the best older brother possible to him, and the best friend.

I felt him realize, in the depths of his soul, that I was a person too.

That I wasn’t just fodder.

That the mortals he had so callously ignored, had dismissed as being less important than him, than the gods - that we weren’t as different as he liked to believe.

The guilt that he had tried so hard to keep at bay, to keep hidden in the depths of his soul, crashed down on him.

He’d failed SO BADLY.

They’d all failed.

How could they not have realized…?

No. They realized. They just pretended otherwise.

It was easier that way.

His despair nearly engulfed me.

_I’m a terrible person._

_I deserve this._

_I deserve much worse than this._

_SO FIX IT_ , I screamed at him. _You know better now. You can change things. But not if you die here. Survive. Learn. Grow. If you think you’re a terrible person, then BECOME a better one. But you can’t fix your mistakes if you’re gone._

I could feel him begin to rally, feel him begin to change course. But it wasn’t enough. With his own existing guilt and insecurity combined with Zeus’s abuse over the past several months, he still didn’t have enough left in him to fight back. With time and support, I believed that he would recover enough to stand up for himself and for others. So long as he had some means to combat his depression, his guilt. Someone to shout back the voices when they got too loud, to help him fight off the voices, until he was strong enough to fight them off himself. Someone like me.

I didn’t have that time.

Through my _~~Apollo’s?~~  _eyes, I saw Zeus reach down his hand and pick  ~~me~~ ,  ~~Apollo,~~   us up. Everything was foggy, Apollo and I still adjusting to each other’s presence.

Then Zeus engulfed us in a fiery light.

The pain was worse than you could ever imagine. I burned from the inside out, Zeus’s flame targeting the last remaining scrap of my soul. Apollo attempted to shield me, to hide me from the flame by concealing my soul with the light from his own.

It wasn’t going to work. I could feel the flame licking at Apollo’s soul, causing him to scream as well. Perhaps Zeus didn’t want Apollo destroyed. But he didn’t believe that Apollo would truly sacrifice himself, put himself on the line to help save a mortal he’d just met.

I’d felt Apollo’s soul.

I knew better.

Apollo would burn to protect those he cared about.

I wasn’t going to give him the chance.

I was going to be destroyed. No avoiding that.

But I would undo as much of Zeus’s damage as I could first.

If I was going to be destroyed, some good would come of it. 

I dove into Apollo’s memories, racing against time. I wanted to help reinforce his positive memories, suppress the ones of the abuse and suffering he had endured. I couldn’t. Anything I touched, anything I interfered with, was at risk of being erased by Zeus’s flame. 

Instead I searched for his most recent memories, the ones that had finally broken him. These last few months did not need to be remembered. Zeus’ taunting would be for nothing. A twinge of satisfaction ran through me at that thought.

I found them quickly. Then I  _PULLED-_

Pain. Boredom. Despair. And most of all

Loneliness.

Such utter loneliness.

My soul shuddered, and curled inwards. It hurt nearly as much as the flames had. No wonder Apollo had nearly given up, if this was the emotional pain he had been in all that time. I held on. Zeus wanted to erase me from existence? Fine. He would erase some of the pain he caused as well.

Apollo sensed what I was doing. We were connected. He knew my plan.

I felt my - no, his, I wouldn’t exist much longer, they were his now - mouth open as tears streamed down his face. 

“Please,” he rasped, voice rasp from disuse. “Please just… just leave him alone. Kill me if you want. But leave Lester alone. This isn’t his fault. He doesn’t deserve this punishment. Please.”

Zeus simply glowered at him coldly, the flames intensifying.  **“REMEMBER. THIS IS YOUR FAULT. YOUR PUNISHMENT.”**

He was blaming Apollo for my fate, for the cruelty HE was inflicting on ME.

 _You are not responsible for this_ , I thought at Apollo.  _Zeus is, and Zeus alone. Don’t let others foist off responsibility for their own cruelty._

_Just tell my family what happened. Please._

I had a feeling that if he could, Apollo would be sobbing. _I will. I promise._

I was done with my work. I couldn’t let Apollo face the flames any longer. Already I could feel them burning through me, burning through the memories I had left behind. Burning through the epiphanies Apollo had experienced while connected to my soul. Everything the flame thought was me, everywhere it thought I might hide, it would incinerate. 

Apollo would not remember this. I didn’t see how he could keep his promise. He wouldn’t even remember that I existed. But I had to believe in him. I had to believe that he would come to the same realizations again, realize mortals’ worth. That he could fight through the facade he put up, through his own guilt, pain, and arrogance. 

I had done all I could.

I moved out from Apollo’s protection, into the path of the flames. Apollo tried to wrap around me again in a futile, last-ditch attempt to save me. I would not allow him to do so. He’d been hurt enough trying to save me. It was my turn to save him.

Distantly I felt Zeus hurl Apollo off of Olympus, flames still streaming from his body as they burned up the last ashes of my consciousness.

I had helped save someone.

I had helped…

I…

... 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No this is NOT the end of the story. Just want to get that out there.
> 
> Also I have a feeling that this chapter could have gone differently. I'm considering writing a spinoff AU of this chapter at some point. Right now though, I'm sticking with my original plan.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to ArtJunkyard for creating this AU and looking over this chapter! I've had most of it planned for awhile, but kinda got distracted from it. I was never gonna end the story THAT badly for Lester, I'm a sucker for a happy ending.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Movement.

Dragged back.

Summoned, piece by piece.

Bonding together seamlessly.

Reforming… me?

Me.

I existed.

_I existed!_

But who was *I*?

As more pieces gathered together, I dove into myself.

People flashed by me. Two young boys and a girl giggling and running away as I chased after them, pretending to be the Tickle Monster. I caught one of the boys and tickled him mercilessly. Causing him to laugh and cry out for help. My hearing seemed distorted. I focused, sharpening my hearing, straining to hear his words. 

“-ter! Help, Tyrone! He-he-he-” he collapsed into a fit of giggles. 

Tyrone? 

The second boy leapt into view, attempting to pull the first boy from my grasp. “I’ll rescue you, Tyler!” he shouted bravely. 

I felt my cheeks hurt from smiling. A warm sensation welled up inside me. Tyrone and Tyler… I loved them. I loved them _so much_. I loosened my grip a little, allowing the twins to escape.

I felt something wrap around my back. I didn’t have time to ponder  _what_ , though.

Hands kneaded at my belly and side. I laughed and laughed, unable to defend myself. The tables had turned. The Tickle Monster was being tickled himself.

The boys cheered, “Get’im, Katie!”

I craned my head around. A little girl wearing a tutu and a tiara greeted me, an evil grin on her face as she gleefully tickled me.

“I’m the Tickle Monster Princess!” she declared. “This is my servant Tickle Monster now!” She turned an evil grin towards the two boys. “Ooh~ I spy some new prey~”

_Uh Oh_

The boys saw the writing on the wall and RAN. With a grin, Katie and I ran after them.

A new scene interceded, demanding attention. 

I let it come.

A blond-haired boy, older than the other two, sat in front of me. He looked maybe ten years old. 

He seemed closed off. Withdrawn. Wary. As if he’d been through this before, and knew he’d go through it again. 

A tall woman I didn’t recognize stood off in the corner, watching everything.

“So what do you like to do?” a voice spoke from beside me. I turned slightly. The voice belonged to a tall man with curly hair and a kind face.

_Dad!_

This… this was my father. How could I have forgotten him? 

My past self wasn’t as enraptured with my dad as my current self was, unfortunately. My eyes darted back to the boy.

He shrank back and mumbled, not seeming to want to meet anyone’s eyes.

Things blurred forwards slightly.

I was at home with the boy ( _the boy? I knew his name. I KNEW it. So why couldn’t I remember? Please let me remember…_ ). He wandered around, attempting to look casual, but I noted how his eyes kept darting to the doors, as if mapping escape routes.

“Cameron?” I heard my voice call out ( _Cameron, yes, THAT was his name!_ )

He startled a little. I felt myself give him a small, hopefully reassuring smile.

“I was going to play some Mario Kart,” I told him. “Want to join me?”

His face lit up. “Yeah,” he said quietly. Still, it was louder than the mumbling I’d heard from him before. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

We played a few rounds. Cameron fumbled a little on the first few tracks, but soon got his bearings. That’s not to say that he could beat ME, of course, I had years of practice over him - but he was consistently able to make the top five.

“You two having fun?” An amused voice interrupted. I looked over my shoulder. 

The woman smiled back at me, affection shining in her blue eyes. Just being near her made me feel warm and safe.

_Mum._

“Mind if I join in?” she continued. The smile seemed less warm and motherly now, and more of an evil smirk. 

Crap.

I handed her a controller.

Cameron looked confused at my expression. “What’s up with that face? You look like your cat just died.”

“You’ll see,” I groaned. 

And oh did he EVER. Mum was a DEMON, shunting racers into hazards, laying down some hazards of her own, and dodging everything that Cameron and I could throw at her. 

Cameron looked at her in awe as she strode off at the end of the set of races (she won first place of course). “How… how did she DO that?” 

“She’s been playing Mario Kart for longer than I’ve been alive,” I chuckled. “What did you expect?”

“Have you ever beaten her?” he asked. I shook my head. “Nope. I haven’t had a lot of other live opponents to practice with though, just the NPCs. Want to help me unseat her and end her reign of terror?” 

I held out a hand. He shook it, a fire lighting in his eyes. In my new brother’s eyes. “Let’s DO this.”

It took YEARS of practice, but we finally beat Mum in a race. Ok, so maybe it took us ganging up on her, but still, we WON. 

The vision ended. That was okay. I remembered who I was now, and who my family were. 

But… where was I now? Why had I forgotten in the first place?

I opened my eyes.

Three people stood in front of me, their eyes filled with relief and joy. I didn’t recognize two of them - the dark-skinned teenage boy or the lighter, younger-looking teenage girl next to him.

But the final figure…

He looked about my age, but I sensed - no, I KNEW - he was much, much older than I was. He glowed softly in the darkness, illuminating his expression. I saw the same relief in his eyes as I saw in everyone else’s, but also sadness and a deep, gnawing guilt.

Apollo. 

Everything came rushing back. Zeus, the kidnapping, Apollo’s punishment, and my destruction.

But if what I remembered was correct… if I’d truly been destroyed. Then…?

“How?” I asked. I startled slightly. That was definitely my voice, but speaking felt… different. As if my thoughts had simply sprung out of my head audibly.

I started again. “How… how am I still here?”

Apollo spoke up. “I- I encountered your mother while I was on a quest. She thought I was you. Before that, I’d just assumed this body was an empty shell, a prison Zeus had created for me. That’s when I discovered the truth. That Zeus was crueler than I had ever imagined.”

He drew in a deep breath, as if steeling himself for what he was about to say. “I ran into your mother on the street. I didn’t recognize her, of course. But she recognized me. I realized what Zeus had done.”

He shifted uncomfortably, not meeting my eyes. “I couldn’t stay. I couldn’t do that to her. Pretend to be her son. To be you. I promised her that I’d come back. And I ran.”

“I broke that promise.”

My brow furrowed. What did he mean? Couldn’t he just go to her now? I felt like I was missing something…

Apollo looked up, catching sight of my expression. His face collapsed in misery, realization filling his eyes.”You haven’t realized, have you?”

“Realized what?” I asked. I didn’t think I wanted to know, but I NEEDED to know.

“I- I couldn’t help you then. I needed to help defeat some evil people, and I had no idea where to even start at restoring you, if I even COULD. I’d hoped that getting back into Zeus’s good graces would be enough to persuade him to restore my godhood and to restore you back to your body. But it didn’t work like that.”

His expression fell even further, the light around him flickering like a candle in the wind. “I helped stop the Emperors and kill Python, but your body was destroyed in the process.”

I should have felt shocked. But I didn’t. I’d known this. I just hadn’t wanted to accept it. But that still didn’t explain…

“How am I here at all? Zeus said he was going to totally destroy my soul. It certainly FELT like he did.”

Apollo grimaced, disgust leaking into his voice. “My father TRIED to destroy your soul. And by Greco-Roman standards, he did. Not even a god could have restored you.”

He smirked. “Egyptian magicians, on the other hand…”

I took a closer look at the other two teenagers. They DID seem to have a lot of vaguely Egyptian-looking items on them.

Apollo continued. “I told some of my friends about what I knew of your situation. Luckily, they’d heard that these two had restored a destroyed soul before. My friends put me in contact with them - Carter and Sadie Kane.”

The boy - Carter, I assumed - took over. “People’s souls are often destroyed in Egyptian mythology. If someone’s heart is evil, their soul is fed to Ammit the Devourer -”

“Poochiekins,” the girl - Sadie - cut in.

Carter glared at her for a moment, then resumed as if nothing had happened. “-but sometimes evidence of a person’s innocence arises, and Dad needs to reverse the punishment. That’s where the  _sheut_  comes in.”

“Sheut?” I asked. I’d never heard of that before. 

“Shadow. It’s basically a back-up copy of the soul. One of my friends had part of his soul devoured, but we were able to restore it using his _sheut_. Finding it was the tricky part.”

“But if it’s just my shadow, wouldn’t it be attached to my body?” I asked, confused. I’d brushed up on my Greek mythology, but this Egyptian stuff was new to me.

“Well… sometimes. My friend - the one who had his soul partly destroyed, his name’s Bes - actually hid his  _sheut_  away in a rendition of the past. He’s a god though so that kind of thing’s normal for him. We weren’t entirely sure where to look for yours since it’s not like you would’ve known how to hide it. Luckily we didn’t have to look far.”

Where would I have…?

Oh. 

Of course.

I looked over at Apollo. “I left my  _sheut_  with you, didn’t I? Not with my body, but with YOU.”

It made sense. At the end there, I’d tried SO HARD to convey to Apollo what he needed to know. That us mortals were people too. And I’d wanted to protect Apollo as well, protect him from his own depression and guilt. I’d  _wished_  I could stay around to battle the voices in his head.

I guess in a way, I’d gotten my wish.

Apollo nodded, gratitude shining in his eyes. “I’d begun getting little snatches of memories from when we merged. Just little bits here and there at first. I didn’t even know if they were REAL, but something told me not to dismiss them. Then - then I remembered something. I was drowning in depression, ready to just give up and fade. Then I heard you scream “NO.” And-and you helped somehow. At that time I didn’t remember what you’d done exactly, just that you’d shared part of yourself with me. That’s when we figured out that you’d attached yourself to my soul.”

He smiled at me, though I detected a hint of sadness in his eyes. “From there it was pretty easy to restore your soul. Carter and Sadie just made a  _shabti_ , - a figure of you made out of clay - bound your  _sheut_  to it, and performed a reverse execration spell on it. Whole thing took less than an hour.”

That explained how I was here now. But that sadness in Apollo’s eyes…

“There was more to it than that, wasn’t there?”

Apollo chuckled softly. “You know me too well. Of course you do. You’ve seen into my soul, seen me more clearly than I saw myself.”

He closed his eyes for a moment. “You took certain memories with you when you were destroyed. Memories you stole from me in an effort to undo some of the emotional damage Father had inflicted on me during my imprisonment. Undoing your annihilation brought those memories back. All of them. Everything Father did, everything you did, everything I realized during those precious moments when we were one. I’ve been sorting through it all while we waited for you to wake up.”

He drew in a shaky breath. “I- I forgot what I learned. Consciously, at least. But I think that subconsciously I remembered what you’d shown me. About how mortals matter. You broke through my indifference, and even after I forgot about you - about what happened - the cracks in my facade remained. I relearned what you taught me. I don’t think it would have happened so quickly if not for you. Thank you. I just wish - I wish I could help you as much as you helped me.”

He already HAD helped me. Apollo had searched for a way to bring me back even when it should have been impossible. The way he’d said that though, as if what he’d done wasn’t enough - it confirmed my suspicion.

“I’m dead, aren’t I? Not just bodiless, but really, actually dead.”

Apollo nodded apologetically. “I could get your soul restored, but repairing your body was beyond mine and their power.”

I wasn’t surprised. I’d been prepared to be annihilated when Zeus set my soul on fire. At least being dead was a step up from THAT.

But being dead meant…

A sinking feeling filled my gut (despite not even HAVING guts anymore). “I’ll never get to see my family again, will I?”

Apollo flinched. “I’m- I’m sorry. It’s my fault you don’t have a body to return to. Maybe if I’d been more careful, or- or faster, or practised more, or SOMETHING, your body would still be intact.”

I shook my head. “How many times do I need to tell you? This is Zeus’s fault, NOT YOURS. HE’S the one who dragged me into this. You blame yourself enough for your own actions. Don’t blame yourself for others’ actions as well.”

“Just- please. Keep the promise you made. Look after my family for me? That’s all I ask.”

Apollo laughed derisively. It sounded more like crying. “I don’t have the best track record with promises you know.”

“Maybe not. But I know you’ll keep this one.”

Apollo nodded. I don’t think he trusted himself to speak.

I took a deep breath. Not that I needed to - no lungs and all - but the action calmed me a bit. “So what happens to me now?”

“Now, I guess I take you to the Underworld to be judged.”

Judged?

“Judged by who? What do they judge me on?”

“Whether you’ve lived a good life and been a good person, mostly. Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll achieve Elysium.”

 “Elysium?”

“It’s basically the Greek equivalent of Heaven. It’s a nice place, like one of those gated communities that’s popular with the older mortals.”

I had no doubt it was, but… “My family won’t be there.”

“They’re still alive, so no.”

I was happy they were still alive and well, but I wanted to be WITH them, to grow up with them. 

We can’t always get what we want.

* * *

 

I walked through the Gates of Elysium.

I hadn’t needed to wait very long to be judged. Apparently Apollo had fast-tracked me. I was grateful, but felt bad for everyone else still waiting in line, many of whom surely deserved Elysium as much or more than I did.

The judging itself hadn’t taken very long either. I really shouldn’t have been surprised. I was only sixteen and I hadn’t had a very exciting life. A good life, but not one that took long to look over. The judges unanimously declared that I was fit for Elysium and sent me off.

I wandered around Elysium for a few hours. The place was beautiful, with massive castles and villas and gorgeous gardens. The people were pretty friendly. I was invited to join several picnics and barbecues even though I was a total stranger.

I declined them all. I just… I couldn’t bear seeing so many people happy, or participating in casual conversations. Not then.

“Apollo?!”

I looked around. Had Apollo decided to visit me? Could he even do that? 

I didn’t see any sign of the golden-haired god. Instead a blond-haired boy stood in front of me, gaping.

I frowned. Was this someone Apollo had met while in my body?

“Sorry, I don’t know who you are.”

The teenager looked disturbed. “You don’t remember me? Jason Grace?”

I shook my head. “I’m not Apollo. I’m the kid Zeus kidnapped to serve as Apollo’s meat puppet.”

Now Jason looked REALLY disturbed. “His WHAT!”

“He kidnapped me from my family and systematically destroyed my soul, piece by piece, until my body was empty enough for his liking. Then he shoved Apollo’s soul in and set what was left of my soul on fire until it was totally annihilated,” I stated matter-of-factly.

Jason stared at me, his jaw hanging open and eyes bugging out. He made a few strangled noises before finally regaining the power of speech. “My Father did THAT?!”

I grimaced. “Yeah. He sucks.”

Jason was silent for a moment, seeming to process my words. “Wait, if he annihilated your soul, then how are you here?”

“Apollo found out about what happened to me and found people who were able to restore my soul - but not my body.”

“Oh.”

We stood there awkwardly for a second, until my OWN brain had finished processing Jason’s words. “Wait, Zeus is your Father?”

Jason nodded. “Yeah. Well, Jupiter, anyway. I’m Roman. Sorry about… you know.”

“Not your fault, man. It’s his fault I was put through that, no one else’s.”

“Still…”

I shook my head. “NO. I had enough of Apollo blaming himself. I don’t need you doing it too.”

Jason perked up a bit. “How’s he doing? Did he defeat the Emperors? Is he a god again?”

“He seemed okay when I saw him. Sad and feeling guilty about what happened to me, but otherwise okay. He stopped the Emperors and killed Python, whoever that is. And yes, he’s a god again.”

Jason let out a breath. “That’s a relief. I just hope…”

“Hope what?”

“I- I knew I was going to die when I helped Apollo on his quest. I wanted to make sure I made a difference before I did. I asked him to promise that he’d remember what it was like to be human when he became a god again.”

This kid - I WISHED I’d known him when we were both alive. We would’ve been great friends, I was sure.

“He remembered,” I assured Jason. “I know he did. I could tell in the way he talked to me and about his friends. He won’t forget.”

Jason smiled back. “I’m glad.”

We walked around the lake for a moment. My eyes kept drifting to the islands in the middle.

Jason spoke up. “So what are you gonna do now?”

I stopped walking. Jason had asked the question I’d been avoiding thinking about. “I- I don’t know. This place is lovely, but- it’s not home. I- I want to go back home to Mum and Dad and Tyrone and Tyler and Katie and Cameron-”

I choked back a sob. So much had happened that I’d managed to avoid thinking of my family, of dwelling on what EXACTLY being dead had meant, for a while. But now that I’d had time to process it all came flooding through.

I’d never play hide-and-seek with the twins again.

I’d never attend Katie’s dance recital.

I’d never beat Cameron at Mario Kart again.

I’d never have my butt whooped by Mum at Mario Kart ever again.

I’d never watch movies with Dad ever again.

Maybe I could see them again eventually when they died (which I dearly hope wouldn’t be anytime soon) but they’d all have grown and lived full lives without me by then.

Jason looked at me sympathetically. “I have people I miss too. People I’m waiting for. Though since they’re demigods, I probably won’t have long to wait. We don’t have the best survival rate.”

“I- I just,” my eyes drifted magnetically to the islands in the middle of the lake. What WERE they? “I just- I want to be alive again. To see them again.”

Jason looked at the islands for a moment. “Do you want to go back?”

Go back?

“I can do that?” I asked, suddenly hopeful.

Jason nodded. “Souls that are judged worthy of Elysium have the choice of being reborn. If they’re reborn twice and judged worthy of Elysium all three times, they can enter the Isles of the Blest - those islands over there.” Jason gestured towards the islands we’d both been staring at.

“I could go back…” I stated numbly.

“Yes, but you have to be SURE it’s what you want,” Jason told me warningly. “You have have bathe in the River Lethe in order to be reborn, wiping out all your memories. There’s no going back at that point. You don’t have any idea where you’ll end up, or what your circumstances will be. You might not achieve Elysium next time. You could be sentenced to either the Fields of Asphodel or the Fields of Punishment for all eternity. It’s very, VERY unlikely you’d ever cross paths with your family again, and you wouldn’t recognize them if you did.”

Jason was right. The sensible thing would be fore me to stay here until my family eventually died and meet them then. I’d have missed a LOT, but I’d be guaranteed to see them again.

I didn’t feel like being sensible.

The chance I’d see my family again was vanishingly slim, but I was going to take it.

“Where’s the River Lethe?” I asked Jason.

He frowned, but pointed. I started walking in the direction he’d indicated. Jason walked with me. 

“Are you sure? You could stay and think on this awhile. There’s no time limit.”

I shook my head. “It’s foolish and idiotic and stupid to rush into this, I know. But I’m feeling stupid and idiotic and foolish right now.”

Jason laughed. “Sometimes it pays off to be a bit foolish.”

We stopped at the riverbank.

“Well, I guess this is goodbye,” Jason said, smiling sadly. 

“Yeah, I guess this is.” 

Jason hesitated for a moment, then pulled me into a fierce hug. “You’ll see your family again. And- and this isn’t goodbye for good. I’ll see you again the second time you earn Elysium. I’ll be waiting.”

I hugged him back. I wished I’d gotten longer to know him, but I just couldn’t wait around any longer, knowing there was a way back to the mortal world. I just couldn’t.”I’m looking forward to it.”

Jason laughed. “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t want to see you back here again for a long time.”

I smiled at my new friend, then turned and waded into the Lethe’s waters.

It felt warm and cozy and… what was I thinking of again? 

It didn’t matter, did it?

_Don’t forget your family._

I startled. My family?

_Tyrone. Tyler. Katie. Cameron. Mum. Dad._

Their faces invaded my vision. I clung to them even as everything else slipped away.

_Please, just let me see them again._

_Please…_

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had most of this planned out, but I came up with Lester meeting Jason while I was writing the chapter, and once I'd had the idea, I HAD to implement it. I really think they'd be great friends if they'd had the chance.


	5. Epilogue

## Me and My Family

                                         by Ryan Lester Papadopoulos

Hi! My name’s Ryan Lester Papadopoulos (obviously, I just wrote that) and I’m ten years old. I’ve got blue eyes like my Mum and curly hair like her too, but my smile comes from my Dad. I’ve got blond hair, which is a little weird ‘cause both my parents have brown hair. They said it must be a recessive trait and I’d learn more about what that means in a few years.

As for what I like to do - um, well I like playing Mario Kart. My oldest brother Cameron (well second-oldest technically, I’ll go into that later) is REALLY good at it. I’ve never beaten him at it. I’m getting closer though! I’m still MILES away from beating Mum. She smokes Cameron at it most of the time, so I stand NO chance of beating her. Cameron said that when I get a bit better at the game, we should team up and take her down together. I’m looking forwards to that, I want to wipe that smirk off her face so badly!

Cameron’s a lot older than me - about sixteen years older in fact. He’s actually adopted, which he apparently tried to use as an excuse to get out of chores when he was younger. I don’t know why he thought that would work ‘cause it never did. He’s better at getting chores done now that he’s an adult, but his apartment still isn’t the cleanest thing in the world.

I also like archery and singing. I know archery’s kinda an unusual thing to try, but Uncle Ollie let me try it out. I was REALLY good at it, like I managed to get a bullseye at 100 feet after only a week of practicing. Uncle Ollie’s an expert at archery, so he’s been teaching me twice a week. He says I’m so good I might even get into the Olympics someday!

Oh yeah, Uncle Ollie’s not TECHNICALLY my uncle, we just call him that. He just kinda started coming around shortly before I was born. I think Mum wanted to adopt him into the family, but since he already has parents (though his dad sucks from what little I’ve heard about him), he just kinda became an uncle.

Uncle Ollie’s also given me some singing lessons. His voice is MAGICAL, you just can’t stop listening when he’s singing! My voice isn’t quite as nice as his, but I’m getting better and I DESTROY at karaoke.

Sometimes he gets this weird look when looking at me though, like I remind him of someone. He just smiles at me fondly whenever I catch him doing it. 

I think I remind him of my technically oldest brother - I mentioned this earlier when talking about Cameron, remember? - Lester. He disappeared about twelve years ago, two years before I was born. No one knows what happened to him. He just vanished from our house one day without a trace. My whole family was completely devastated. He was declared dead a year later. Uncle Ollie came to be a part of our family around then. Apparently he knew Lester from… somewhere. I’ve never gotten solid answers on that actually. But Ollie vowed to always be there for us.

Lester was a lot like me from what my family have said. I look a lot like he did at my age, except my hair’s blond. He was a GREAT older brother. He gave some of my other siblings piggyback rides and played pretend with them, read them bedtime stories, and just generally looked after them. He and Cameron were really close too, probably because they were close in age. He was only two years older than Cameron. Apparently he and Cameron were even able to team up and end Mum’s reign of terror in Mario Kart - temporarily at least. I hope Cameron and I can do the same thing.

I wish I could’ve met him. He sounds really awesome. Even though I’ve never gotten to meet him I feel weirdly connected to him. Maybe it’s because my parents gave me his name as a middle name, maybe it’s because I’ve grown up hearing all about him, but I feel like I knew him really, really well. Like I hear stories about something involving him, and I can picture EXACTLY what happened. It’s always from Lester’s perspective weirdly, which kinda gets disorienting since I’m not as tall as him - not yet anyway. I’m getting there!

Ollie’s not the only one who acts weirdly around me sometimes. Cameron sometimes gives me these weird fond sidelong glances when he thinks I’m not looking, and Dad does too. I asked Mum about it once, when SHE gave me a similar weird look. She smiled at me mysteriously and told me something her own mother had told her:  that whatever you lost, no matter what you lost, would always turn up one way or another. Often when you least expect it.

I asked her whether that applied to Lester too. And she said yes, even for him. I felt like I should know what she was talking about…

Let’s see, I’ve listed Mum, Dad, Cameron, Lester, Ollie- oh! I haven’t mentioned my other three siblings yet!

So I’ve got three more siblings - Katie, Tyrone, and Tyler.

Katie just turned eighteen a few months ago. She’s actually at college now. We all videochat with her several times a week. I miss her. She used to read bedtime stories to me when I was younger, after Cameron moved out but before I could read complicated stories on my own.

She’s also a great singer and dancer. She’s the one who introduced me to karaoke. I don’t think she expected me to be as good at singing as I am, but she’s not complaining! Sometimes she dances to songs I sing. It’s a lot of fun!

Tyrone and Tyler are both twins and the resident troublemakers. They’re both sixteen, six years older than me, but Mum often says I’m more mature than them. I can definitely see that. They’ve snuck around and played pranks before, and I have to be the mature one and stop them - mostly I miiiight have helped them once or twice. (They bribed me with Pokemon cards).

I don’t get the same sidelong glances from Katie, Tyrone, and Tyler as I do from the rest of my family. I think it’s because they don’t remember Lester as well, and I’m pretty sure he has something to do with it? It’s kinda sad actually. They loved Lester so much, but their memory of him is getting fainter with every year. Tyrone and Tyler have an especially hard time remembering him. They were only four years old when he went missing and their memories of that age are pretty faint. Katie’s not much better. She was six so her memories are a LITTLE clearer, but not by much.

I found the three of them a couple years ago huddling in my bedroom (it used to be Lester’s, but was revamped for me once I got old enough to sleep by myself). They were crying over an old family photo - the last one taken before Lester disappeared. I asked them if they were crying because they missed Lester, and they told me that was the problem. They DIDN’T miss him. Not like they should. That there should feel like there was a hole in the family, an empty place where he used to be, and there just… wasn’t. That it felt like our family was complete, and had been for a long time. Like there wasn’t someone missing, someone they’d loved with all their hearts.

I couldn’t say I knew what they were going through. I didn’t and I still don’t. I never knew Lester, however much I wish I did. From my perception, our family has ALWAYS been whole, just with the shadow of a long-gone loved one in the background. But I knew that they shouldn’t feel bad.

I hugged all three of them and told them that Lester wouldn’t want them to be sad. That he’d be happy that they’d moved on with their lives and were happy. That they had nothing to feel guilty for.

Maybe it should have felt weird to put words in the mouth of someone I’d never met, but in that moment, I was absolutely certain I was right about what he’d say. I’m still certain.

They all hugged me back and cried for a bit, then thanked me. We’ve only talked about that day a handful of times since then, but I have a feeling it’ll be seared into their memories like it was seared into mine.

So that’s my family! I don’t know what I’d do without them, and I hope I never have to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if it wasn't completely, blatantly obvious, Lester was pretty much immediately reborn back into his own family. The Fates pretty much looked at Lester's situation and went 'yeah he doesn't deserve this much pain and misery, let's throw him a bone.'
> 
> I put in a reference to Baguette_Me_Not's own Papadopoulos Fam AU story, The Sun Can't Shine Without Darkness. https://archiveofourown.org/works/18227948/chapters/43126244 . It fit the theme of this chapter very well.
> 
> Oh, and just to be clear, Lester's Apollo-ish traits are NOT from being Apollo's son. He's Susan and Thomas's son through and through. When he did that merging thing with Apollo some of Apollo's essence kinda stuck to him, making him functionally similar to a demigod, even though he technically is just a clear-sighted mortal.
> 
> Susan, Thomas, Apollo, and Cameron figured out a long time ago that Ryan is Lester reborn. Katie, Tyler, and Tyrone have no idea.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed the story! I'm a complete SUCKER for a happy ending, so while I might be cruel to Lester, I wasn't going to leave him in such a tragic situation permanently. The sweet cinnamon roll child deserves happiness!


End file.
